Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Trading Up 1% – What’s Next?

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) were up 1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $90.74 and last traded at $90.43. Approximately 4,226,960 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 16,860,635 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.50.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Walmart from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.88.

Walmart Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $738.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.48.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total value of $166,607.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 459,558 shares in the company, valued at $37,113,904.08. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647 over the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 479.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after buying an additional 15,290,936 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $562,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,885,106 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 202.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,431,662 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $567,499,000 after purchasing an additional 6,314,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.